I can understand the outrage over the Jaycee Dugard "inspired" film (I'd like to let Seth and Amy have a REALLY!? with that one...) but offering a woman who has modeled lingerie and sexy costumes a porn career doesn't seem like a huge leap to me. Yes, not all models of such clothing want to go into porn, but when you have revealing pictures and a sex type already circulating? I can't work up any ire.
@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: I agree to an extent. The place where I pause is that Prejean's sex tape wasn't made for a mass audience. It was taken public without her permission.
Well, supposedly, anyway. I mean it all could have been done for publicity, I guess.
Um, once again, WHY is everybody calling Shane Ryan a pornographer or adult filmmaker? Gah, it's killing me- one article uses that term towards him, and everybody does without checking the facts . . .
The guy does stupid amateur horror/sexploitation films. Exploitative, sure. Porn, it is not. Disgusting? Certainly. Porn? Nope.
@cand86: I think this is a really important distinction - though possibly a reason why the idea of him making a Jaycee Dugard film is MORE disturbing.
This article is about the pornification of inadvertently famous women. I think it makes a good point about the media's sexual objectification of women, but it doesn't exactly apply in the case of the Jaycee film. While I can only speculate on what the film will be, Shane Ryan has not made porn films in the past. It doesn't appear that he is going to all of a sudden start making porn films now. His work isn't like "Nailin Paylin", where a famous woman is replaced with a big-boobed porn star lookalike and put into ridiculous sexual situations. Granted, if it was, it would still be entirely inappropriate. But a look a Ryan's previous films shows that he makes sexually violent exploitation films. Though that doesn't fit as neatly into the thesis of this article, I think it's even more upsetting. Here is a man who has made a career off of portrayals of extreme sexual violence, announcing that he is planning a film based on the story of a rape survivor. It's one thing to make violent films (I personally love horror films, though this brand of exploitation film is definitely not my style). But to take someone's personal story and most likely turn it into an exploitation piece (as that is his M.O.) does strike me as "breathtakingly unkind," to quote the Dugard family.
(I don't want to link to Mr. Ryan's work, but a quick search will show you that many of his movie trailers are available on YouTube.)
The mirror I hold up for perfection is my mom. A widowed Japanese immigrant living in the US, who didn't read or write English, yet managed to raise eight children who grew up to be successful, intelligent and extremely well-adjusted.
Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie have some big shoes to fill. #angelinajolie
@kookla: My GranNana was a 4'11, 85 lb. Irish immigrant who raised five children on her own after her husband died of the flu at the age of 34. She worked as a seamstress and a bicycle and coach mechanic (!) to get them through the Depression intact.
All my early memories of her involve her making me toast fried in bacon fat, coaching my push-ups from her Barca Lounger, and swearing at my mother for not keeping my Stepdad in line. No offense to Ange--she's great--by GranNana could kick Lara Croft's ass in time for Sunday dinner without wrinkling her dress. I'd give my left foot to spend another day with her--if only to hear her cuss out Sarah Palin. #angelinajolie
@BetteD: I bet your GranNana and my mom could teach all of these so-called spectral presences a thing or two about being an icon. Without nannies, chauffeurs, private jets and mansions. #angelinajolie
I'm pretty sure in 50 years, starlets will have Angelina Jolie tattoos on their arms and they'll be talking about her dress size and how it has changed since the 1990s.
Jolie (on a some level, in terms of her humanitarian work and her bombshell status) is like a hybrid of Audrey and Marilyn, two actresses whom people just can't stop emulating. This is just the beginning, I think.
@hortense: This is one of those cultural memes I just don't get, and I don't know if it's a wiring thing, or what. But I just have no strong feelings about Angelina. I mean, I know she's beautiful, but she isn't the first actress I think of when I think about that (especially now, when she does seem to have a sort of cultivated stoicism), and she's a good actress, but again, not someone who I'm automatically excited to see. I don't even feel cynical OR moved by her adoptions and charity work. She just leaves me "meh" and I can't claim it's because I'm such an independent iconoclast, either. #angelinajolie
Also, I'm not sure why Jolie gets the "superhuman" status treatment all the time. She has fucked up, publicly, in the past. It's as if everyone has forgotten her life pre-Brad Pitt. It's so weird. That's not to say that I think she should be punished for fucking up or anything, but I think it's sort of hilarious that people act like her halo isn't tarnished a bit. #angelinajolie
@Tchotchke: Because the implication is that all women want to look like her and have her life. I, for one, would rather stick a fork in my eye. #angelinajolie
@hortense: I think it's because she was pretty open about the pre-Brad fucking up, as far as I recall she's never claimed to be perfect- either as a public figure or in her private life.
And truth be told, I thought she was awesome right from the time of Girl, Interrupted. #angelinajolie
@hortense: Exactly. But also, her life now doesn't seem at that great to me. I mean, I guess it depends where you stand on the whole celebrity thing - I can't think of anything worse. #angelinajolie
@hortense: You're absolutely right. Another thing that bothers me is that people seem to forget that pre-Brad, she looked and acted entirely differently. She was Goth, often wore unflattering clothing, and publicly flaunted past bad behavior. The entire time she was with Billy Bob, most people talked about how creepy she was, not how beautiful she is. I happen to think she was attractive before the Brad era, but she went through a major, major make-over to maker her more conventionally sexy, and to overhaul her public image. #beautypetpeeves
@Tchotchke: @Waterlily: @hortense: I don't actually like Ange, I find her a bit smug and I don't trust people who can turn on a dime like that. That said, she did adopt Maddox right before getting together with Brad. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt that that had more to do with her image-revamp rather than the man in her life. I'm sure she remembered the Courtney Love/Vanity Fair scandal. #angelinajolie
@hortense: Jolie had to change her image. She was considered a world class loon. Her reputation was damaging her career. One must admit that she is a master (mistress?) of media manipulation. She went from deranged bloodsucking homewrecker to Mother Teresa in an amazingly short time.
@all: Because she is mentioned, I would actually like to add Olivia Wilde to the list of women who's hype and appeal I do not understand. #angelinajolie
@amoureuse is a second class citizen: I don't know if you remember exactly how quickly that maturing process went for her. I'd chalk one up to maturity if she had spent a few years evolving into what she is now. But she was being weird with Billy Bob, giving interviews about her knife collection, the whole works. And then she adopted Maddox, and a few days later dumped Billy Bob, and then within a few weeks started this whole humanitarian thing, and within 6 months she went from weird-destructive-knife-loving party girl to classy, charitable Brad Pitt love interest. It's just too quick for me to believe either persona is completely her, rather than a partial PR creation. Yes, people mature, but generally people with handlers mature differently than you and I. #angelinajolie
@Diziet_Sma: I simply do not see it in Jolie, so it's strange to read that "perfection" comment. My thought bubble always reads "Is this some sort of joke?"
It's almost like a marketing strategy for a new automobile/tech gadget/film that is average at best but gets major ink: "Hey kids, it's great/new & improved/in 3-D...so pass it down!" Of course, some folks ain't buying it...and some, like myself, find Angelina straight up boring. BORING. There. I said it. #angelinajolie
I just want to say: I TOTALLY CALLED THE REBECCA THING. Also, spell check is saying I am misspelling Rebecca, which is odd, since it is one of my favorite books and also my middle name. #angelinajolie
@lilbobbytables: YES. I friggin' love that book. It survives repeated re-readings. If they ever decide to remake the movie again, Jolie would be a great candidate for that role. #angelinajolie
Off-subject, but should she have like, donated the embryos? Or is that a whole 'nother thing? I mean, she makes it sound as though she didn't so much want to have more kids as she didn't want to have the embryos destroyed. I know it's hindsight and the babies are here, but I was just wondering. #octomom
I am very angry at this woman. She decided to have kids instead of seeking help. And I'm sick of people claiming to be religious when it's a good excuse to get out of a fucked up thing. "Oh, I couldn't KILL those babies, I'm very religious." How else are you religious, Nadia? In what way? Do you go to church? Because typically people who are SO religious that they believe that destroying embryos is murder usually have some sort of part in their community. Did you go to church BEFORE this happened or is it just now that you need the church-members help and money?
You know, I make probably twice as much as the average American and I don't believe that I am financially capable of bringing ONE child into this world right now. That's not to say that people who aren't super wealthy and education can't have kids...I'm just saying that you shouldn't be COMPLAINING about an inability to take care of your kids because of your inexplicably low salary while continuing to PROACTIVELY implant embryos in you. She was making $15K a year with 6 kids?
This lady is a pathological liar. Remember when she said that she never was on public assistance? Lie. Remember when she said that she was totally capable of taking care of her kids because she's getting her Ph.D. or whatever in psychology and could care for them with that degree? Lie. Remember when she said that she never had plastic surgery? Lie.
This is the same lady that goes out and gets a tattoo (which costs hundreds of dollars) while her kids are at home with a bunch of nannies that are being paid by who? SHE IS A FUCKING NUTCASE. No schaudenfraude here...just total anger. #octomom
@JinxyMcDeath: I just want to comment on one thing. Being religious does not necessarily mean you must have a community in which you are active. People practice their religions differently, and while a good many do choose to express their faith by going to church/temple/mosque etc, not doing so doesn't make you fake or irreligious. In the same way, going to church doesn't really mean a damn thing. #octomom
@JinxyMcDeath: I totally agree with your comments. The religious card is particularly interesting in light of many who have no problem accepting and using scientific innovations that may provide them with children but demonize other scientific advances that don't jive with their personal agendas. So God gave humans the ability to create fertility treatments but not stem cell research? I just doesn't make sense. #octomom
@Andraste: To be fair (not that those wingnuts deserve fairness!) many people who are against stem cell research are against IVF too, for example, the Catholic Church's official stance is that IVF is wrong. #octomom
The only thing some of us want from an Octomom story is for it not to appear in any publication of record and for a Jezebel piece to be reproduced instead in the space it would have taken.
(Unless, of course, it's a Jezebel piece about Octomom, in which case I drown in the conundrum.)
11/19/09
11/19/09
Well, supposedly, anyway. I mean it all could have been done for publicity, I guess.
11/19/09
The guy does stupid amateur horror/sexploitation films. Exploitative, sure. Porn, it is not. Disgusting? Certainly. Porn? Nope.
C'mon, peeps.
11/19/09
This article is about the pornification of inadvertently famous women. I think it makes a good point about the media's sexual objectification of women, but it doesn't exactly apply in the case of the Jaycee film. While I can only speculate on what the film will be, Shane Ryan has not made porn films in the past. It doesn't appear that he is going to all of a sudden start making porn films now. His work isn't like "Nailin Paylin", where a famous woman is replaced with a big-boobed porn star lookalike and put into ridiculous sexual situations. Granted, if it was, it would still be entirely inappropriate. But a look a Ryan's previous films shows that he makes sexually violent exploitation films. Though that doesn't fit as neatly into the thesis of this article, I think it's even more upsetting. Here is a man who has made a career off of portrayals of extreme sexual violence, announcing that he is planning a film based on the story of a rape survivor. It's one thing to make violent films (I personally love horror films, though this brand of exploitation film is definitely not my style). But to take someone's personal story and most likely turn it into an exploitation piece (as that is his M.O.) does strike me as "breathtakingly unkind," to quote the Dugard family.
(I don't want to link to Mr. Ryan's work, but a quick search will show you that many of his movie trailers are available on YouTube.)
11/16/09
Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie have some big shoes to fill. #angelinajolie
11/16/09
All my early memories of her involve her making me toast fried in bacon fat, coaching my push-ups from her Barca Lounger, and swearing at my mother for not keeping my Stepdad in line. No offense to Ange--she's great--by GranNana could kick Lara Croft's ass in time for Sunday dinner without wrinkling her dress. I'd give my left foot to spend another day with her--if only to hear her cuss out Sarah Palin. #angelinajolie
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Jolie (on a some level, in terms of her humanitarian work and her bombshell status) is like a hybrid of Audrey and Marilyn, two actresses whom people just can't stop emulating. This is just the beginning, I think.
11/16/09
11/16/09
This meme annoys me no end. There is no such thing.
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And truth be told, I thought she was awesome right from the time of Girl, Interrupted. #angelinajolie
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I also read that she was on drugs around that era. Maybe maturity kicked-in and she decided to clean up her act? #angelinajolie
11/16/09
11/16/09
It's almost like a marketing strategy for a new automobile/tech gadget/film that is average at best but gets major ink: "Hey kids, it's great/new & improved/in 3-D...so pass it down!" Of course, some folks ain't buying it...and some, like myself, find Angelina straight up boring. BORING. There. I said it. #angelinajolie
11/16/09
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11/12/09
You know, I make probably twice as much as the average American and I don't believe that I am financially capable of bringing ONE child into this world right now. That's not to say that people who aren't super wealthy and education can't have kids...I'm just saying that you shouldn't be COMPLAINING about an inability to take care of your kids because of your inexplicably low salary while continuing to PROACTIVELY implant embryos in you. She was making $15K a year with 6 kids?
This lady is a pathological liar. Remember when she said that she never was on public assistance? Lie. Remember when she said that she was totally capable of taking care of her kids because she's getting her Ph.D. or whatever in psychology and could care for them with that degree? Lie. Remember when she said that she never had plastic surgery? Lie.
This is the same lady that goes out and gets a tattoo (which costs hundreds of dollars) while her kids are at home with a bunch of nannies that are being paid by who? SHE IS A FUCKING NUTCASE. No schaudenfraude here...just total anger. #octomom
11/12/09
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Because I love amateur photoshop, I decided to make this. #octomom
11/12/09
11/12/09
(Unless, of course, it's a Jezebel piece about Octomom, in which case I drown in the conundrum.)
11/12/09